We set off to visit the Musee Nouvelle Caledonie and were quite pleased with ourselves in that we located the parking and the museum without any problems.
Being senior citizens (ie oldies) it cost us a whole 100Francs to enter (about $1). It was a very interesting and well laid out exhibition of Kanak culture and history which wandered around three floors of the Museum. We spent a good hour or so sighting only a couple of other visitors.
A "Grande Case"
there were many example of "door posts" on display
a round stone axe
Inside roof of a "Grande Case" (big house)
example of "coutume" - gift given to chief when asking to enter his land
Just across the road is a Mwa Ka, a large carved post that symbolises the mast of a New Caledonian ll the pirogue (canoe) bringing together all the ethnic groups of the earliest inhabitants.
We wandered through La Place des Cocotiers (Coconut Tree Square) and had lunch at a local eatery CafeAusterlitz, which, somewhat surprisingly, has a diverse menu including pretty good Vietnamese (which we had).
La Place des Cocotiers
Le Petit Train - the traditional way for tourists to see Noumea
Even Gail was impressed by the size of this teapot!
Soft moon above the Coral trees
Then it was off to explore another beach, Kuendu, which is a little out of town but supposed to be very popular with the local Kanak people. It is a beautiful beach and although a "resort" takes up about half of it, the rest was filled with family groups picnicking, playing ball, volleyball or just lazing about under the trees - we opted for the lazing under the trees after a swim.
Being senior citizens (ie oldies) it cost us a whole 100Francs to enter (about $1). It was a very interesting and well laid out exhibition of Kanak culture and history which wandered around three floors of the Museum. We spent a good hour or so sighting only a couple of other visitors.
Just across the road is a Mwa Ka, a large carved post that symbolises the mast of
a New Caledonian ll the pirogue (canoe) bringing together all the ethnic groups of
the earliest inhabitants.
Then it was off to explore another beach, Kuendu, which is a little out of town but supposed to be very popular with the local Kanak people.
It is a beautiful beach and although a "resort" takes up about half of it, the rest was filled with family groups picnicking, playing ball, volleyball or just lazing about under the trees - we opted for the lazing under the trees after a swim.